Review

I love playing this type of game! As others have said, it is similar to Virtual Villagers, without the feature of the game continuing while you are away. I found I didn't get as involved with my people as much as in the V.V. games, probably because they can do most things by themselves once you've set it in motion, and they don't die or have children.

Most of the game is explained well but there's no way to review the tips/rules after you've passed them. I haven't found a description of the type of work under each category (Farmer, Worker, Builder, Artisan, Scientist).. Most are self explanatory with the exception of Artisan. I decided it was the metalsmiths, weavers, cooks and forge workers. The game does work putting workers in those spots too. I think the problem is that all the categories are workers - perhaps having Miners and Loggers would have been a better solution but I think they were trying to simplify it. In most of these games, once the building is done, the Builders don't have anything to do, so here you can send them back to school and/or use them in other areas, or they just stand around.

Allowing the people to do the work they liked was a bit challenging, as they can be specific and you aren't sure what to have them do if the item isn't built yet. Or, I had a woman who liked to make repairs but didn't like to build, and she was hard to please. Work that said it was a repair she would still make a face at because it involved building, so I'm not sure what she was supposed to do that she liked.

I really enjoyed this game, and hope there are more made like it. I enjoyed the mini-games of the housing room puzzles and the pirate hunting. I would have enjoyed having more randomly appearing items to have my treasure hunters collect in addition to the items they do explore. I could see how the developer could do sequels to this, and I'll buy them if they make them..